It was almost daybreak when Valentina slipped between the wonderfully soft sheets of her huge bed. As she lay there she pushed herself out of herself, down the hallway, and into Misty's mind. She decided that she would sleep with Misty, or to be more precise she would sleep within Misty's mind. She hadn't done such a thing in perhaps centuries, but tonight she was so stricken by the girl that she wanted to sleep with her thoughts and mind wrapped tightly around Misty's. They would, Valentina knew, dream together.
Valentina could see that Misty was no longer inside of herself, that she had left her body and was now simply observing it as it was drifting off to sleep. Valentina understood that Misty's consciousness, ego and identity had flown from her when her need to obey and the level of suffering she could take were no longer able to co-exist. She could obey no more if it meant taking any more, and she could take no more unless she could continue to obey. It was irreconcilable, so Misty left her body, retreating to a place from which she could simply observe.
Valentina slipped into Misty's memory and saw that while her mind broke stepping into the shower, it was the pain in her knees that actually did it. The constant ache in her knees. Dread of a future stretching out years, perhaps decades, always with that constant ache. Emilia pulling her off the toilet, physically putting her on her knees. It was Misty's fear of the future more than the pain that drove her beyond the breaking point.
Valentina understood why Misty had left, but she felt no obligation to do anything about it. The abuse Misty's knees took would not heal overnight, they would begin hurting the second she put weight on them when she awoke. The ache would grow as the night moved on. The next day it would be more of the same. Valentina knew that Misty's fears were justified; she would be in constant pain, for years.
Misty's knees could improve with time Valentina knew, could grow stronger as they became used to holding her weight in a way that they were not designed to do. Misty could also train her mind to better process the pain.